Free painting classes to be offered during run at Corner Collective

By Robert Williams

Editor

Sharon Trieglaff Jons is an artist of many mediums and most of those will be on display and for sale at CornerStone during the month of December. Through her business “Just Bliss” and with the help of a Lakes Region Arts Council Springboard for the Arts grant, Jons will be showing her art from December 6-27.

“It’s a lot of energy and I wanted to show my art to people,” she said.

Jons credits her mother Melvina Schultz Trieglaff as her earliest inspiration.

“She was an artist but she did bookkeeping to put food on the table,” Jons said. “When I was a kid my mom let us use anything in the house, so we all were problem solvers and creators and that’s how my whole thing began. If we didn’t have something we didn’t go to the store; we dug around the house and found what we wanted.”

Jons grew up one of six siblings, all of whom she said are creative people.

“We were always looking for things to make,” Jons said.

Those things ranged from clothing to Christmas gifts and decorations.

Growing up in Frazee, she had far more exposure to art through her mom and at home than she did in school. 

“There was no art in high school,” she said.

Jons also found her avenues to learning about art by taking summer classes and an interior design class from the Chicago School of Design.

She worked with her first husband Gary Ware of Gary’s Furniture, providing interior design services before working more independently in the late 80’s, which included teaching color analysis classes in both Frazee and Detroit Lakes.

Sharon married her second husband Virgil Jons in 1990 and lived in Moorhead pursuing art for more than two decades.

“I did a lot of artist shows,” she said.

She attended Minnesota State University Moorhead to expand her knowledge base taking as many art classes as she could.

“That really got me down the road,” she said. “Because I had no art in high school I started way behind everybody else. Even though I had lots of experience.”

By the mid-90s, she was a regular contributor at Fargo’s Gallery 4 working mostly with jewelry, paper and book binding. 

Gallery 4 is an artist cooperative gallery owned-and-operated by local premier member artists.

The couple eventually moved to Frazee in 2014.

“It’s been wonderful,” said Jons. “We love where we live, our house and the people. It’s been a great way to land on our feet after Virgil retired.”

However, the art scene was not the same or as prevalent as in the Fargo-Moorhead metro.

“It took me a while to get re-engaged; just getting settled in the community and all that,” she said.

Painting became a prime passion later in life after Jons completed an online painting class during COVID.

“I’d never really painted,” she said. 

“It really helped me squelch the fear of a white canvas,” “That’s the hardest part. I’m way better at making decisions in art than I was. The medium has really taught me alot about art principles and putting colors together. I’ve always been a color hound; it’s different with painting when you’re talking about small spaces.”

Jons chose acrylics as her preferred medium and its versatility, allowing for a wide range of textured effects.

“I’m spontaneous so that really works well for me,” she said. “I like 3D too; most of my paintings are three dimensional.”

Jons has multiple paintings currently in the working stage and they are creations of spontaneous inspiration.

“I just put color on and then I look at what I see or what I want to put next to it,” she said. 

From paintings of fish and birds to another canvas of eggs, Jons allows the paints to bring them to life.

“I just look and see because I’m mixing colors and they showed up,” she said. “I wait to see the next step. If I try to plan my art it doesn’t work. I can make a progression in a direction and end up with something I really like. I just try to be in the moment; what do I see? What would feel good?”

Jons kept much of her work private but has now turned to page wanting to share it with others.

“I was ready to show my art and ready to sell some of it,” she said. “For a long time I didn’t want to sell it so there was no reason to do a show.”

Her show, “Whispers of a New Day” premiers Thursday, Dec. 6 and runs through Saturday, Dec. 27 at Corner Collective Bistro.

Besides paintings and other visual arts, the show will include sculpture, upscale clothing, fiber art, jewelry, handbound books and more. The collection showcases Jons’ journey as an artist.

“It sneaks up on you; the new day and how it all comes and it’s just how this has evolved…the day and sometimes it’s just a whisper,” said Jons.

Half of the sales of the show will go donated to Corner Collective and Bistro.

The Dec. 6 open house runs from 1-6 p.m., and will be followed by music by Jon Heath from 7-9 p.m.

Jons is also offering two free painting classes on Saturday, Dec. 13, downstairs at CornerStone, from 10 a.m.-noon and from 1-3 p.m.

What

“Whispers of a New Day,” featuring artisan works of Sharon Trieglaff Jons

When

• Artist Show: Dec. 4-27

• Open House: Saturday, Dec. 6, 1-6 p.m. Corner Collective Bistro (Upstairs)

• Two Free Painting Classes: Saturday, Dec. 13; 10-noon and 1-3 p.m.

Participants can sign up for one or both classes.

Where

CornerStone Youth Center (Downstairs)